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SPECIAL ISSUE: Bioregionalism

Buen vivir in practice. Cuencas Sagradas, a bioregional plan of indigenous nations of Ecuador and Peru Amazon

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  • Massimo De Marchi,
  • Belen Paez,
  • Manari Ushigua,
  • Javier Felix,
  • Francesco Facchinelli,
  • Paola Herrera,
  • Eduardo Pichilingue,
  • Edoardo Crescini ,
  • Salvatore Pappalardo ,
  • Daniele Codato
Massimo De Marchi
University of Padova

Published 2026-06-25

Keywords

  • Cuencas sagradas,
  • Sacred Headwaters,
  • political ontology ,
  • life project,
  • indigenous institutionality

How to Cite

De Marchi, M., Paez, B., Ushigua, M., Felix, J., Facchinelli, F., Herrera, P., … Codato, D. (2026). Buen vivir in practice. Cuencas Sagradas, a bioregional plan of indigenous nations of Ecuador and Peru Amazon. Contesti. Città, Territori, Progetti. Retrieved from https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/contesti/article/view/17033

Copyright (c) 2026 Massimo De Marchi, Belen Paez, Manari Ushigua, Javier Felix, Francesco Facchinelli, Paola Herrera, Eduardo Pichilingue, Edoardo Crescini , Salvatore Pappalardo , Daniele Codato

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The Sacred Headwaters Bioregional Plan (Cuencas Sagradas) covers 350,000 square kilometres between Ecuador and Peru. It aims to protect the Amazon by prohibiting fossil fuel extractions and prioritizing "Buen Vivir" (collective well-being) over traditional growth metrics. Led by 37 indigenous nations, the initiative is supported by a global scientific commission and ancestral spiritual wisdom. Scientifically, the region acts as a vital global thermoregulator. Spiritually, it is guided by Nuka Kawsay, a philosophy of reciprocity with the living forest. The plan promotes a "Life-Centered Economy," proposing debt-for-nature swaps and a transition away from fossil fuels. It challenges the "One-World World" logic through political ontology, recognizing the Amazon as a sentient entity and a "Subject of Rights". This model represents an "Ancestral Future," where territorial sovereignty is the foundation for planetary health.

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